Episode 4: One Armed Dude and Three Moms

Due to a busy work schedule, this blog will be sweet and to the point.

As usual, this week opened with a plethora of Redemption Island drama. Brad was ceaselessly "(Nina) Acosta'd" by Candice and company. After the first episode of the season I got the impression that Brad was a complete meat head but after this episode I feel that he is actually a decent guy that has simply been hammered by bitter losers. Anyone in a leadership role would take the heat from people voted out of the game regardless of their character. When Brad was voted out, he showed tact for both his fellow tribe mates and for Candice and John. Though it's always supremely awkward when someone tries to give hugs or handshakes after a vote out, I thought Brad handled it very well.

Seeing Marissa lose the dual stirred little emotion in me. I felt bad that Gervase played a big part in her ouster but I don't think that she would have made it much further in the game regardless.
As for the idol clue, it should really be called the idle clue because it did nothing to help anyone find an idol. Maybe this will be the first season where no one finds the idol. Probst always loves to say, "Historically, having an idol has been extremely helpful in the game," which is true to a point. Possessing an idol gives you hard power to save yourself in addition to soft power which you can use to leverage deals. However, I would like to quickly look at the history of hidden immunity idols. In the 16 seasons prior to Blood vs. Water, seven winners have found hidden immunity idols. That's a surprisingly high number considering that only 44 idols have been found and 287 players have had the chance to find an idol. That means that 15% of people who have the chance of finding an idol end up doing so and of those people who find the idol, 16% go on to win the game. In terms of hard power, the idols have never saved the holder from getting voted out. However, the idol definitely has certainly helped players propel themselves to the end. In Redemption Island, Boston Rob's possession of the idol certainly helped squash the possibility of his allies turning on him. Additionally, in Cook Islands Yul used the idol to help leverage Penner's vote at the merge. In Yul's case, his idol was so powerful that for him to leave the game, he would have had to have been voted off twice so making it to the end was certainly an easier road for him. Despite the statistics, I'm still not convinced that getting an idol helps you win the game more often than not. Just take the example of Todd in China or Parvati in Micronesia. They both found idols but did not keep them and still went on to win.

Enough idle chatter and back to this season. By far the best part of the episode was the scenes involving the coconut bandits (#coconutbandits). I can gush about Tyson all day, but these moments brought back all the reasons why I was excited to see Gervase back. It's rare that a dynamic duo emerges that I like but when there is such a pairing it makes the show so much fun to watch. I think back to watching Boston Rob and Sean in Marquesas or Tom and Ian in Palau. I can only hope that these two guys will stay together to the very end!

Courtesy of Rob Cesternino

Sometimes I really despise the promos for upcoming episodes because they can give away the result of the future. For example, CBS touted this episode to have a major power shift so when Tadhana went to Tribal Council it was pretty clear Caleb or Ciera were not going to go home. Though it was a blindside to Brad, his ouster was hardly a surprise to careful observer of the show. Time will tell whether the move will pay off but I think Caleb is now a lock for the merge. I see him teaming up with Ciera and Katie to take out Hayden in the coming weeks. However, once the merge rolls around we will see if Caleb has a chance of making it far. At this point, I certainly have my doubts.

This coming week I will have much more time to write about the next episode but that's all I have time for during this cycle.

As always, you can follow and send feedback to me on Twitter @RobsFactChecker where I live tweet during the West Coast broadcast.

Thank you for reading!

Episode 3: Opening Pandora's Box

Pandora's Box as seen on Big Brother

By the conclusion of this episode, it was clear that Pandora's Box had been split wide open. Hayden warned us that a blindside within the Five Guys alliance "could be like opening Pandora's Box" and that came to fruition. Additionally, the box was already bursting open before the "truel" on Redemption Island when Colton quit the game. We are only three weeks into Survivor: Blood vs. Water and already it is looking to be one of the more memorable seasons. Having loved ones in the game is proving to be one of my favorite twists since the Medallion of Power the three-tribe format in the Philippines.

Everybody online has been abuzz in regard to Colton's exit from the game and his continued fall from grace. One must look back before the airing of One World to find his peak in Survivor popularity but it's hard to believe anyone even liked him then. Regardless, the overwhelming consensus has been that Colton made a rash and selfish decision, he deprived someone else of having a spot on the show, he shouldn't have gotten off the couch etc. I'm not a Colton apologist but I may sound like one by the time you read my line of reasoning. In every one of his post-show interviews, Colton revealed that the main reason behind his quit was to help propel Caleb further in the game.* This did little to change most people's minds but it completely changed my perspective. As it should be clear to everyone, this is not a "regular" season of Survivor, it's Blood vs. Water. Therefore, ordinary lines of logic do not apply. Quitting on Survivor never gets you further in the game (unless maybe you are Ozzy and re-enter the game through Redemption Island) but on this season, a lot of duos are just hoping that one in the pair wins the game. Thus, it is possible that quitting was his best move, as he admitted to Jeff. To break down Colton's strategy, he opted to pull himself from the game so that if Galang lost again, they would have to vote another member from their own tribe out (instead of Colton), which would help Caleb. Secondly, Colton was convinced that Caleb would switch with him if he were sent to Redemption Island so his actions prevented Caleb from even having the choice of switching places. I don't think Colton is a great player of the game but I also know that he is quite intelligent and wouldn't quit for absolutely no reason. Speaking of quitting, when did Jeff become Winston Smith from 1984 and have the power to change past history? One might suggest he retroactively took away Dawn's immunity challenge victory in South Pacific when he confidently declared that her win in Caramoan was her first but alas. Jeff just doesn't have his facts straight here. I appreciated his anger with Colton but that doesn't mean he gets to change the fact that Colton did not quit in One World.

Aside from the Colton drama, Tyson had a rough road throughout the episode. The show opened with a closeup of his cupcake belt. For the record, I would take a bite or lick Tyson's cupcake...but only because the thought of food would never escape my mind. However, the high of Tyson's time at camp would come crashing down at the Redemption Island arena. His beloved Rachel was ousted by the Five Guys. Though I was sad to see her go, it lead to many touching moments. Firstly, Tyson deferred to her about the decision to switch. Rachel earns major points for considering their best interest and not her own at the time. Hats off to that. Secondly, Rachel's loss led us to see a whole new side of Tyson. After watching two seasons of this goofy jokester, it was almost shocking to see him shed a few tears. I usually don't like seeing players coming back repeatedly (see my blog on Episode 1 for a detailed explanation) but these moments make it somewhat worthwhile.

In his last appearance on Heroes vs. Villains, after Colby lost to Coach in the first challenge, Tyson playfully quipped,"He's gotta be like... I might as well just become a woman. Because there's no point in trying to maintain my masculinity now."
 Though I love this side of Tyson, prophetic Tyson is also compelling to watch on TV. Survivor tends to steer clear of breaking the fourth wall but it gave Tyson some lenience to talk about the Survivor experience: "It is a game, you know? Too many people take it too serious and it shouldn't be and it ruins their lives and makes them angry." On the heels of Colton's quit, it's easy to see how he ties into this quote. However, it also makes the viewer think about other people who were particularly bitter after the show (e.g. Grant after being blindsided by Boston Rob). In the case of someone like Debb Eaton, the fans and media are culpable for disrupting the contestants life but many former survivors draw too many parallels between Survivor and real life. This is always a debate I find interesting but one where I also have a strong opinion. Firstly, I don't like the framework of the debate because I reject the idea that there is anything different than "real life." If you are alive, then you are experiencing real life. Life is like a clock that is continually running. It doesn't get paused or put on hold due to any circumstances. Taking a trip, doing something spontaneous, or going on Survivor are all part of "real life." Just because you leave your sense of normal (having a family, going to work, going to school etc.) does not mean your real life stops. Though I strongly believe this to be true, I still think that the actions of individuals on the show cannot be translated to who they will be outside of the show (or what others might label "real life"). Despite the continuity in every person's life, Survivor has a specific goal that is not found in other aspects of life. The structure of Survivor is set up in a manner that produces one winner and 15-19 losers depending on the given season. However, in everyday life, there is no limit to the number of people that can "win." Therefore, the manners in which people act in each situation will be different. A kind and charitable person outside of Survivor may become a more selfish person within the game but it does not make them a selfish person. Rather, it just shows how people will react when placed in contrived situations. The difference may seem nuanced, but I think it's an important distinction.



Back to Tyson, his roller coaster ride was not yet finished. There was still time for him to have his shoulder popped out of its socket before the end of the episode. Hopefully his vow at Redemption Island remains valid:

The immunity challenge, first used in Palau, evoked many fond memories of Coby defeating redneck James. This season's rendition of "Sumo at Sea" proved to be quite memorable as well. We saw mothers battle their own daughters (both happily and reluctantly) in addition to the rivalry between Aras and Vytas. Though I am more of a Vytas fan, it was a great moment to see Aras win and proved once again that having family members on the same season creates compelling story lines. I'm guessing most people missed it but Kat had a great line from the sidelines when Aras had Vytas pinned. She yelled, "Aras, you show that downward facing dog who's boss!"

                           


Back at the poor Tadhana camp, we learned that John was getting to be be pretty good friends with Brad. Not in a homosexual way though, that's for sure. Unfortunately, Brad wasn't feeling the love and decided instead that it would be nice to make Marissa the most unfortunate third wheel in Survivor history. For his betrayal and desire to vote out John without even casting a vote his way, Vytas called out his "sheistyness." I'm not sure if this word has ever been used on the show before but I loved it.

There were a few other funny moments in the episode that I will list at the end:

1. During the previously on Survivor recap, we see Jeff explaining to the contestants, "You are no longer loved ones, you are competitors." Ah! So their bonds of love/blood/marriage are now null and void? Interesting.
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2. Before quitting the game, Colton had the chance to say something completely moronic: "These people are nothing like the people I played with in One World." Did he forget that 25% of his tribe are the exact people that played with him last time? Apparently so.
    
3. The most ironic quote of the episode goes to Gervase when he offered advice at Redemption Island: "Tone it down, Marissa!" Wasn't this the guy whose mouth directly led to her ousting? I think he should take his own advice before dishing it out so readily.
    
4. I liked how Brad likened Tyson's jabs toward the Tadhana tribe as "throwing arrows." Who throws arrows? I though to myself. Many people shoot arrows but few throw them. Then I remembered that in Guatemala, there was an atlatl challenge, making Tyson the first contestant to throw an arrow on the show in eight years!
   
                              
5. Lastly, I loved this entire exchange between Vytas and Brad before the challenge:

As always, you can follow and send feedback to me on Twitter @RobsFactChecker Normally I live tweet during the West Coast broadcast but I won't be able to do that for Episode 4. 

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* Colton admitted that this did not make it on the show because he didn't want to reveal his true motive. If everyone knew he was quitting for Caleb, the strategy would be self-defeating. 

**Shout out to @Erik_Nelsen for fact checking the Fact Checker.